Digital Commons Network^™

From Gregory To Enron: The Too Perfect Theory And Tax Law, Christopher H. Hanna

Faculty Journal Articles and Book Chapters

Although financial writers have been using magic terms in describing tax law (and accounting reporting), do such terms and theories really have a place in the law? This Article will show that there is a connection between magic and tax law. In a sense, tax lawyers are magicians in that they are able to structure transactions in a manner to minimize taxes, in many cases, to the complete bewilderment of their clients. Tax lawyers are constantly striving to structure transactions in ways that will withstand scrutiny from both the government and the courts. Experienced and well-informed tax lawyers know, however, …

Perpetual Trusts And The Settlor's Intent, Joshua C. Tate

Faculty Journal Articles and Book Chapters

In recent years, a number of American states have abolished the Rule Against Perpetuities, allowing for the creation of perpetual dynasty trusts. Some scholars have suggested that these states should also pass statutes making it easier for beneficiaries and trustees to undo a perpetual dynasty trust after the settlor has died. This article makes use of a novel source of empirical evidence - websites created by estate planners to entice clients to set up dynasty trusts - to show that settlors' goals would be frustrated by the proposed legislation.

Bad Arguments Against Gay Marriage, Dale Carpenter

Faculty Journal Articles and Book Chapters

This article claims that three common arguments against gay marriage - the definitional, procreation, and slippery-slope arguments - are quite bad, the worst of the lot. The definitional argument asserts that marriage just is the union of one man and one woman, and that the definition alone is a sufficient defense against claims for gay marriage. The procreation argument claims that marriage's central public purpose is to encourage procreation, and so the exclusion of same-sex couples is justified. The slippery-slope argument claims that the acceptance of same-sex marriage logically entails the acceptance of other public policy changes - notably the …

The Value Of Institutions And The Values Of Free Speech, Dale Carpenter

Faculty Journal Articles and Book Chapters

No abstract provided.

Counsel Conflict Dilemmas In Mergers And Acquisitions, Marc I. Steinberg

Faculty Journal Articles and Book Chapters

This article analyzes an important dilemma that raises liability and ethical concerns: Attorney conflicts of interest in the specialized setting of corporate acquisitions and mergers. The ensuing discussion seeks to present a concrete analysis in conjunction with a recommended framework of attorney conflicts of interest in the publicly-held corporate acquisition context. First, the article will present a general overview of conflicts of interest for the corporate counsel. Second, these conflicts issues will be addressed in the corporate takeover setting, followed by an examination of such conflicts in parent-subsidiary mergers and leveraged buyouts in which incumbent management obtains a substantial equity …

Commentary On Government Incentives To Promote Renewable Energy In The United States By Professor Wang Mingyuan Institute For International Law And Public Policy: 2004 U.S.-China Environmental Law And Policy Roundtable: Comment, William L. Andreen

Articles

No abstract provided.

Ndsu Magazine : Spring 2005

NDSU Magazine

No abstract provided.

Synthesis Of Cyclopropanes Via Organoiron Methodology: Preparation Of The C9–C16 Alkenylcyclopropane Segment Of Ambruticin, Julie Lukesh, William A. Donaldson

Chemistry Faculty Research and Publications

A synthesis of the C9–C16 segment of ambruticin is described which relies on organoiron methodology to establish the 1,2,3-trisubstituted cyclopropane ring.

Polystyrene Nanocomposites Based On Carbazole-Containing Surfactants, Grace Chigwada, David D. Jiang, Charles A. Wilkie

Chemistry Faculty Research and Publications

New organically-modified clays containing a carbazole unit were prepared and the number of long alkyl chains on the surfactant was varied. The clay was used to prepare polystyrene nanocomposites by both bulk polymerization and melt blending. The dispersion of these clays in the polymer matrix was evaluated using X-ray diffraction (XRD) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The thermal stability of the clays and the nanocomposites were analyzed by thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) while the fire properties were evaluated by cone calorimetry. If more than two alkyl chains were present, the gallery spacing is apparently overcrowded, leading to poor dispersion. Bulk polymerization …

The Relationship Between The Solubility Parameter Of Polymers And The Clay-Dispersion In Polymer/Clay Nanocomposites And The Role Of The Surfactant, Bok Nam Jang, Dongyan Wang, Charles A. Wilkie

Chemistry Faculty Research and Publications

Nanocomposites were prepared of polymers having different solubility parameters and pristine or organically modified clays, and the dispersion of clay in the polymer was evaluated using X-ray diffraction and transmission electron microscopy. The solubility parameters of both the polymers and surfactants of interest were calculated according to the group contribution method and correlated with the clay morphology. A close relationship between the solubility parameter of the polymer and the clay morphology was observed. The clay has a very polar group, so the higher is the solubility parameter of the polymer, the larger is the d spacing of the clay that …

Rudolf Steiner And The Jewish Question, Peter Staudenmaier

History Faculty Research and Publications

No abstract provided.

The Supreme Court And Voting Rights: A More Complete Exit Strategy, Grant M. Hayden

Faculty Journal Articles and Book Chapters

To the great relief of many observers, the Supreme Court has recently become more deferential to state legislatures with respect to their political redistricting plans. The only problem is that the Court appears to be in no mood to revisit some of the cases that got it entangled in the political thicket to begin with - the ones rigorously applying the one person, one vote standard. Indeed, it recently issued a summary affirmance of a lower court decision that tightened up its already exacting standards regarding population equality. As a result, the Court's partial retreat from politics is doing more …

Working Together: How Workplace Bonds Strengthen A Diverse Democracy (Book Review), Grant M. Hayden

Faculty Journal Articles and Book Chapters

No abstract provided.

Resurrecting Comity: Revisiting The Problem Of Non-Uniform Marriage Laws, Joanna L. Grossman

Faculty Journal Articles and Book Chapters

This paper addresses the age-old problem of interstate marriage recognition, raised anew by the legalization of same-sex marriage in Massachusetts. The problem, in a nutshell, is whether and when a state should recognize a marriage validly celebrated elsewhere when its own laws would have prohibited the marriage from taking place.

Non-uniform marriage laws and the conflicts they engender are not new. To the contrary, states historically disagreed about many aspects of domestic relations laws, and in particular about marriage prohibitions. Conflicts arose when couples married in one state and then sought recognition of their union in a state that would …

The Unitary Executive In The Modern Era, 1945-2004, Anthony J. Colangelo, Christopher S. Yoo, Steven G. Calabresi

Faculty Journal Articles and Book Chapters

Since the impeachment of President Clinton, there has been renewed debate over whether Congress can create institutions such as special counsels and independent agencies that restrict the president's control over the administration of the law. Initially, debate centered on whether the Constitution rejected the executive by committee used by the Articles of Confederation in favor of a unitary executive, in which all administrative authority is centralized in the president. More recently, the debate has focused on historical practices. Some scholars suggest that independent agencies and special counsels are such established features of the constitutional landscape that any argument in favor …

The New Universal Jurisdiction: In Absentia Signaling Over Clearly Defined Crimes, Anthony J. Colangelo

Faculty Journal Articles and Book Chapters

No abstract provided.

Nationalizing International Criminal Law, Jenia I. Turner

Faculty Journal Articles and Book Chapters

International law scholars often assume that the best way to enforce human rights is by establishing strong international institutions that develop the law progressively and enforce it independently. Political realists counter that such institutions are only as useful as powerful states permit them to be, and discourage expansive visions of their mandate. Partisans of the recently created International Criminal Court (ICC) must come to terms with the realist challenge. They must work to adapt the institution accordingly, without abandoning hope for the project altogether. Although the ICC will be constrained by the state support it commands, it can make a …

Minimizing Corporate Liability Exposure When The Whistle Blows In The Post Sarbanes-Oxley Era, Marc I. Steinberg, Seth A. Kaufman

Faculty Journal Articles and Book Chapters

Over the past few years, numerous newspapers and magazines have featured stories discussing whistleblowers. From Sherron Watkins at Enron to Cynthia Cooper at Worldcom, employees who reported perceived corporate fraud have received widespread attention. With this increased public focus, Congress chose to provide statutory protection in the whistleblower corporate or securities law context through enactment of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (SOX).

Prior to SOX, federal and state statutes (as well as common law) existed to protect whistleblowers in specific settings. For example, the False Claims Act provides protection to individuals who report fraudulent activities committed against the federal government. …

Attorney Liability Under The State Securities Laws: Landscapes And Minefields, Marc I. Steinberg, Chris Classen

Faculty Journal Articles and Book Chapters

Attorneys face significant liability exposure under the state securities laws, and they can be held primarily liable when they are "sellers" of securities, or under some state statutes, like California, when they are experts. Depending on the applicable jurisdiction and counsel's status relative to the subject client, secondary liability may be incurred. In a number of states, counsel has liability exposure based on materially aiding the primary violator with the requisite intent.

This article surveys and analyzes attorney liability under state securities law. After presenting a succinct overview of applicable state law in Part II, the article then provides a …

Reconciling Pinstripes And Pearls, Carl W. Tobias, Margaret L. Sanner

Law Faculty Publications

Review of Judith Richards Hope, Pinstripes & Pearls: The Women of the Harvard Law School Class of '64 Who Forged an Old-Girl Network and Paved the Way for Future Generations (2003)

Hell's Broke Loose In Georgia, Scott Walker

Defending Savannah: History and Archaeology of the Gibson's Point Battery

A chapter from Hell's Broke Loose in Georgia by Scott Walker on 57th Georgia Infantry stationed on Whitemarsh Island from January to February of 1864. The unit was involved in the skirmish of February 22, 1864.

Scott Walker, Hell's Broke Loose in Georgia: Survival in a Civil War Regiment (Athens: University of Georgia Press, 2005), 103-108.

Borrowing Trouble? V: Subprime Mortgage Lending In Greater Boston, 2000-2003, Jim Campen

Gastón Institute Publications

Four years ago, in response to numerous reports of the growth of predatory lending, both locally and nationwide, the Massachusetts Community & Banking Council (MCBC) – whose Board of Directors has an equal number of bank and community representatives – commissioned a study of subprime refinance lending in the city of Boston and surrounding communities. The resulting report, Borrowing Trouble? Subprime Mortgage Lending in Greater Boston, 1999, was the first detailed look at subprime lending in the city of Boston and in twenty-seven surrounding communities.

This is the fifth report in the annual series begun by that initial study. …

Nonprofit Interjurisdictionality, Norman I. Silber

Hofstra Law Faculty Scholarship

The federal system of "dual sovereignties" guarantees that most American legal regimes tolerate jurisdictional overlap between the enforcement authority of federal and state agencies. This presentation explores interjurisdictional overlap in the context of nonprofit legal supervision. Notwithstanding the common assumption that "states police mission while the IRS polices money," it is suggested here that the overlap has become much broader than generally has been supposed; that over a wide range of common misconduct among the preponderance of organizations in the nonprofit sector, either the Internal Revenue Service or state authorities could, if they wanted to and in no particular order, …

The Billable Hours Derby: Empirical Data On The Problems And Pressure Points, Susan Saab Fortney

Hofstra Law Faculty Scholarship

If you ask law firm attorneys to identify their biggest complaint related to private law practice, most will probably respond with one word: billing. At the same time, clients are likely to identify billing as their most serious concern associated with obtaining legal services. The irony in clients and attorneys sharing frustration over hourly billing relates to the fact that the initial interest in hourly billing stemmed from attorneys' desire to be efficient and to maximize their earnings and clients' preference for only paying for the actual time expended on their behalf. Since the 1960s, hourly billing has evolved as …

The Third Wave: The Alien Tort Statute And The War On Terrorism, Julian G. Ku

Hofstra Law Faculty Scholarship

The Supreme Court's decision in Sosa v. Alvarez-Machain to keep the door ajar for lawsuits alleging violations of international law under the Alien Tort Statute (ATS) has important implications for the U.S. government's prosecution of the war on terrorism. Unlike "first wave" ATS lawsuits against other aliens, or "second wave" ATS lawsuits against multinational corporations, what I call the "third wave" of ATS lawsuits are directed at the U.S. government itself. This third wave has already manifested itself in ATS lawsuits arising out of U.S. mistreatment of prisoners held in Iraq, alleged mistreatment of detainees at Guantanamo Bay, and the …

Security In Serverless Network Environments, Carl Holtje

Theses

As portable computing devices grow in popularity, so does the need for secure communications. Lacking tethers, these devices are ideal for forming small proximal groups in an ad-hoc fashion in environments where no server or permanent services are available. Members of these groups communicate over a broadcast or multicast network interconnect, and rely upon each other to form a cohesive group. While generally small in size and short in lifetime, security is a critical aspect of these groups that has received much academic attention in recent years. Much of the research focuses upon generating a common, group-wide private key suitable …

The Future Of The Doctrine Of Necessity And Critical-Vendor Payments In Chapter 11 Cases, Alan N. Resnick

Hofstra Law Faculty Scholarship

This Article explores the history and justification for the doctrine of necessity in Chapter 11 cases. It discusses the doctrine's gradual narrowing, due to appellate courts' reluctance to permit payment of prepetition debts or recognize courts' authority to authorize such payments. The Article analyzes the effect of recent amendments to the Bankruptcy Code on the doctrine and confirms that there is uncertainty regarding the propriety of payment of certain prebankruptcy debts. The Article proposes that the Code be amended to clarify the extent to which the doctrine of necessity applies in Chapter 11 cases and asserts that courts should recognize …

Implications Of A Uniracial Worldview: Race And Rights In A New Era, Jonathan K. Stubbs

Law Faculty Publications

This article begins by asking, "What is Race: Some Modem Western Perspectives?" Section I surveys race from various vantage points, including views associated with social and natural scientists, jurists, and members of the general public. In short, Section I grapples with what we currently mean when we use the term race.

Many people, especially westerners, believe that the human family consists of multiple races. Such thinking flows from and reinforces multi-racial worldviews. Thus, Section II asks: "What Does a Multi-racial Worldview Look Like?" Here, using graphic symbols we attempt to communicate some sense of what a multi- racial perspective involves. …

Dynamic Complementarity: Terri's Law And Separation Of Powers Principles In The End-Of-Life Context, O. Carter Snead

Journal Articles

The bitter dispute over the proper treatment of Theresa Marie Schiavo - a severely brain-damaged woman, unable to communicate and with no living will or advance directive - has garnered enormous attention in the media, both national and international. What began as a heated disagreement between Ms. Schiavo's husband and parents mushroomed into a massive political conflict involving privacy advocates on one side, and right-to-life and disability activists on the other. The battle raged on the editorial pages of the world's newspapers, in the courts, and ultimately, in the legislative and executive branches of the Florida state government. After nearly …

Community-Campus Partnerships For Economic Development: Community Perspectives, Anna Afshar

Partnerships/Community

What are community representatives saying about the value of community-campus partnerships (CCPs) for promoting economic development? CCPs are playing an increasingly visible role in neighborhood revitalization. More and more, we in the Community Affairs Unit of the Federal Reserve System find ourselves reporting on the outcomes of these collaborations. While community-campus engagements offer potential benefits for both communities and academic institutions, it has become clear to us that there is a shortage of narrative and analytical work clarifying how well these partnerships operate from the community perspective. This paper aims to help fill that gap.